


5 times TJ Oshie brought his teammates coffee and 1 time someone did it for him.

by AaliyahManira



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Hockey, NHL RPF, National Hockey League, Oshie with the good hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 12:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13247907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AaliyahManira/pseuds/AaliyahManira
Summary: A gift, just because. I give you the five times that TJ Oshie was a babe and brought his teammates coffee, and the one time a teammate brought it for him.





	5 times TJ Oshie brought his teammates coffee and 1 time someone did it for him.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Buka2000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buka2000/gifts).



**1.**

Training camp was always bittersweet. It meant the end of the off season and the beginning of an 82-game streak that may or may not end with a playoff spot and a chance at the Stanley Cup. TJ walked in to his third Washington Capital's Training Camp a cup of coffee in each hand and his bag thrown over his shoulder.

Alex was the first person he heard as he approached the locker room, which wasn’t a surprise and also meant that the second cup of coffee wouldn’t be cold before it got to its intended drinker. As he expected, Nicky was sitting in his stall, barefoot with half of his pads on and his stick in his hand. Nicky was working on taping his stick with the intense concentration he was known for when TJ dropped his bag and sat down beside him. There was already music playing, too loud for the speakers.

“Hey,” TJ said with a smile. He extended his hand, offering the coffee up to Nicky. “They gave me two and you’re the only person I know that takes it the same as me.” Nicky smiled, not the polite smile he offered the media, but a real, grateful smile. He wrapped both hands around the cup and arched an eyebrow at Alex.

“Thanks for this, he’s… he’s very excited to be back and very unaffected by the fact that it’s early and not everyone has his energy all the time.” Nicky gestured in the general direction of his captain, who was singing along to a trashy pop song neither of them could name and taping his own stick. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes and drank their coffee with a large dancing Russian as a backdrop. Nicky had given up on taping his stick and it sat lazily against his shoulder. TJ was surprised he hadn't gotten the tape stuck in the curls at the base of his neck.

"Ovi gonna Ovi, right?" Nicky laughed out loud and tried not to choke on the coffee in his mouth. TJ knew that training camp was a routine for Nicky, like any other thing that he did at the beginning of the season or before a game, and he had long given up on the idea of seeing Nicky surprised by anything that happened in their locker room. But it was there, bright in his green eyes, and all it took was a coffee and a moment of silence.

 

**2.**

The Capitals were up early, again, and TJ was exhausted, again. They were spending their day at the hospital, hanging out with sick kids, and that was the only thing that got him out of his bed. He grumbled through his morning routine, begrudgingly forced his feet into his shoes, and got in his car with just enough time left over for a coffee stop on the way to the hospital. Out of the kindness of his heart, he texted the boys and asked if they wanted anything.

He met Tom, Andre, and Nicky at the hospital's front door with five minutes to spare and a carrier full of coffee cups. The thanks he received as Nicky and the others collected their drinks was almost enough to make up for the fact that he was awake before noon on a Sunday. They each made soft sounds of delight as the first swallows slid down their throats.

“You’re the greatest human being I have ever laid eyes on in my entire life and you deserve every gold star ever for this.” Tom flashed a grateful smile and took the longest drink TJ had ever seen. His stupid hat and the addition of the coffee cup made him look like the biggest hipster TJ had ever seen. The others grunted in agreement and downed their coffees like they were just as grumpy about being awake as TJ was. He shoved his hand in his pocket and took a drink of his own coffee. Nicky moved closer and dropped his voice low so only TJ could hear.

“Thanks, Osh, needed this,” he bumped TJ with his hip and gave him another genuine smile.

 

**3.**

TJ wasn’t entirely sure how he wound up being the only one in the house that was sober and without a hangover on New Year’s Day, but it happened, and it wasn't even the strangest thing that he'd ever been through with his teammates. He woke up in one of Ovi’s multiple perfectly made guest bedrooms, with an arm slung over his eyes and his shirt mysteriously missing. Braden knocked lightly at the door a few seconds after he opened his eyes and TJ rolled over to look at him.

“I’ve been deemed least hung over and chosen to make an urgent coffee run. Least hung over does not, however, mean good to drive. I’ll buy, but please take the keys.” Braden held them up like an offering, hooked over one of his fingers, and TJ made a mental note that his clothes, for once, looked rumpled and slept in.

“Yeah, alright. We don’t need our starting goal tender dying in a car crash half way through the season  because our big ass captain likes to provide us with too much alcohol and not enough food. I don’t know where my shirt is.” TJ swung his legs off of the bed and stretched his arms up over his head. He could tell he’d been tipsy at some point, because he had a terrible taste in his mouth and his throat was dry.

“I think probably has an extra, hold on.” Braden disappeared down the hall and called for Alex, who grunted and cursed and sounded like he might've fallen out of his bed. TJ reached for his phone, more curious about the time than concerned with missed calls or text messages. He was still staring at his new lock screen photo when Braden came back, holding a Capitals' t-shirt. TJ finished putting on his shoes, smoothed his hair, and tucked his phone into his back pocket.

“Did everyone tell you what they wanted?” Braden nodded and tossed the t-shirt at him before he fished a post-it out of his pocket and held it up. TJ reached out and grabbed the list and the keys in one fluid motion on his way out the door.

“We’ve been asked to bring back food of some kind too. But, Ovi agreed to pay, so.” Braden shrugged and waved Ovi's credit card.

 

**4.**

TJ was not drunk. He was not drunk yesterday, he was not drunk last night, and he was not drunk when he woke up for practice. But drunk of not, he woke up with a headache, feeling like he’d tried to go shot-for-shot with Ovechkin, and very, very late.

They had two games left before they would see the inside of the Verizon Center again, and TJ had to get his shit together if he was going to earn the three days off he had coming at the end of the road trip. He dragged himself up, got dressed on autopilot, and made coffee. He could hear voices in the hall beyond the door to his room and on a whim, he decided to be nice. He made an extra cup of coffee and a cup of tea. When the beverages had altered to the tastes of their respective drinkers and distributed into their respective paper cups, TJ balanced them carefully in one hand and followed the sound of his captain's voice.

“Alex, Nicky, wait up!” They both turned to look at him at the same time and stopped a few feet from the elevator. He caught up to them in a handful of long strides and held the cups out like an offering. He didn't feel good, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to make the best of it. "I brought you something." Nicky seized the cup like it was a lifeline and barely remembered to blow on it before he took a drink.

“I’m not drink coffee,” Alex started to say when TJ held his cup out to him. TJ swallowed his own drink and smiled, offering the cup again.

“I know, that’s why I made you tea, idiot.” Nicky laughed into his coffee so suddenly that TJ was afraid he was going to choke.

 

**5.**

Morning skate on the road wasn’t mandatory and most of the guys were planning on skipping it so they could stay out of the rain and in the relative comfort of their hotel rooms until puck drop. But TJ wanted to skate. He wanted to get out of his room and stretch his muscles and play.

He checked the group message one last time before he left the hotel, to see who was going to be at the arena when he got there, and grabbed his jacket.

The rain was colder than he expected it to be given the temperature of the air and it pounded against him the minute he stepped outside. Even still, he willingly walked the two blocks to the coffee place he'd seen on the way to the hotel. It was halfway between the arena and the hotel, and smelled like pastries and espresso, even from the sidewalk. He ordered for two, tipped the barista for having a sweet smile, and walked the rest of the way to morning skate surrounded by the sound of the rain.

“For me?” Andre squeaked when TJ offered him the cup. He stared at it for a second, like he was afraid it was going to bite him. He took it carefully, smelled it, and then took the world's smallest sip before he believed it was okay to drink. “How did you know?” TJ smiled on his way to his stall.

“You’re pretty consistent, it’s the same thing I got you on New Year’s Day.” Andre smiled and took a bigger, less tentative sip. When he realized it was exactly right and there was no joke to be had, his smile spread to take up his whole face.

“Thanks, Osh.” TJ raised his glass in salute.

 

**+1.**

The night after their final regular season game was a celebration. It would have been a celebration regardless of the game's outcome, because it was tradition, but it was an even bigger celebration because they won. The game was over, they were going to the playoffs, and everyone was excited to have a night off. There were shots to be had and if Ovi had his way, everyone but Kuzy would drink enough to put a large Russian on his ass.

It was not the first time or the last time that TJ hated Alexander Ovechkin and his stupid Russian vodka, and his stomach of steel. Even though he would have liked to say it was the last time he let Alex trick him into being that drunk, he knew better.

He woke up the next day sick to his stomach and with a headache that made it feel like his brain was trying to pound its way out of his skull and join him for breakfast. He opened his eyes for half a second and then slammed them shut again, because the light coming through his bedroom window was too bright to handle. It took two more tries and him stumbling across the room to close the shades before he was standing on his own two feet with relative stability.

TJ popped three ibuprofen and swallowed them down with half of the water bottle by his bed, hoping they’d take care of the worst of his headache and knowing he'd need to eat to avoid getting sick. He was on his way to the kitchen to silence the rumbling of his stomach when the doorbell rang. He contemplated ignoring his visitor and then decided better of it at the last minute and went to answer.

The sunlight burned his eyes when he opened the door and he blinked stupidly a few times before he could focus enough to make out the familiar shape of Nicky's shoulders, turned to shadow by the sun that was hanging in the sky behind him.

“I brought coffee, and breakfast,” Nicky said, far too awake for the time. He had a paper cup in one hand and a bag from their favorite brunch place in the other. TJ could have kissed him for it. He took the coffee, waved Nicky in, and downed half of the cup in one long pull. Nicky sat down across from him and slid his food across the counter.

“Thank you," he said as he opened the bag. Nicky took a drink and kicked back lazily.

"Any time, eat, you'll feel better.

 


End file.
